Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2015 i N-Photo: the Nikon magazine

With all of the settings available on your Nikon, thinking about every one every time you shoot isn’t the best approach to getting great images. If only there were a shortcut to setting up your SLR for any subject. Well, there is – as long as you know what type of subject you will be shooting, we can help. There are lots of things that you can pre-set so you don’t have to worry about them when you start shooting. This will give you more time to focus on the settings that you will need to change on the day, and will ultimately result in more successful images. Setting up your Nikon in advance will enable you to think about the more creative decisions involved in taking a picture, such…

Speed and connecting with the subject are the keys to capturing great people shots. This means that the fewer settings you have to think about while you’re shooting, the better chance you have of getting the perfect portrait. While you’ll usually have more control over the conditions when shooting indoors, that’s no reason to go in unprepared. THINGS YOU CAN PRE-SET Having your camera set up so you can get shooting straight away will also make the whole process more enjoyable for your subject, as even a professional model will get bored while waiting for you to get ready, and this can show in their expressions and attitude to the shoot. As with most portraits, getting the right depth of field is the key to successful indoor portraits, so start…

Even though there are sometimes street lights to help you see, it’s difficult to change settings on your Nikon when shooting cityscapes at night, so pre-setting as many as possible will make it much easier to get great shots THINGS YOU CAN PRE-SET Before you set off on a night shoot in the city you can pre-set many of the settings on your Nikon. The combination of dark shadows and bright highlights you’ll encounter means that it’s best to set your camera to manual exposure mode, as the automatic modes will struggle to get the correct exposure. Once you have selected manual exposure you can set the shutter speed to around 30 secs and the aperture to f/8, and the ISO to 200. You might need to change these once…

Getting great close-ups is all about noticing the details, so the fewer camera settings you need to think about on the day, the more you can concentrate on getting both the subject and the background perfect. THINGS YOU CAN PRE-SET Just as when you’re shooting portraits, depth of field is one of the most important considerations when it comes to macro shots. Because of this, you should set your Nikon to aperture-priority exposure mode to give you control over the aperture setting. An aperture of f/8 is a suitable starting point for macro images, but you may need to alter this to achieve the right amount of depth of field for your shots on the day. It’s best to switch to manual focusing when shooting close-ups, as focusing is often…

THE MISSION ■ To learn how to really work a subject by shooting it from lots of different angles TIME NEEDED ■ One hour SKILL LEVEL ■ Anyone can do it ■ Some tricky aspects ■ Advanced technique KIT NEEDED ■ D-SLR NEXT ISSUE… Strike a pose – or six – with our guide to classic portrait poses ■ These days, much of what you might want to take pictures of has probably been photographed countless times before. To avoid shooting the same photo as everyone else out there, you need to try to find a fresh perspective. As photographers, most of us see the ‘obvious’ way to shoot a subject instantly, but there is always another way to shoot anything. We don’t mean simply taking a step to the…

01 Find some shade Get set up to begin with. Obviously your lighting, background and so on will be determined by your subject, but the important thing is to that you have somewhere to place your laptop or monitor, ideally in a shaded, neutrally lit part of a room, so you can assess images on screen accurately. 02 Plug in Next, connect your camera to your PC or Mac. It is possible to shoot tethered using a wireless transmitter, but a cable is the easiest option, and the 1.5-metre one supplied with most Nikons should be plenty long enough for home-studio use, though you can buy longer ones if needed. 03 Name that shoot In Light room go to File>Tethered Capture>Start Tethered Capture. In the Tethered Capture Settings window that…

THE MISSION ■ Create a surreal portrait using the moon TIME NEEDED ■ 30 minutes SKILL LEVEL ■ Anyone can do it ■ Some tricky aspects ■ Advanced technique KIT NEEDED ■ Nikon D-SLR ■ Long lens (300mm+) ■ Tripod ■ Model ■ Hat or similar props NEXT ISSUE… Have fun shooting a giant shadow puppet ■ Playing with perspective – making large objects appear small or small objects appear large – can result in some fun and very creative images. The moon is ideal for this; using silhouetted people to interact with the moon enables you to create very graphic photographs that make the most of shooting from a very specific perspective. The key to a successful shoot involving the moon is planning. The time of year makes a…

01 Line ’em up Use a shovel or similar tool with a smooth surface from which to launch the paint. Pour the paints or flour onto the shovel in separate lines to create interesting coloured patterns in the air. About three or four cups of paint worked best for us. We also added some flour. 02 Shoot on impact Ask the subject to stand side-on, and get an assistant to launch the paint from behind and to the opposite side so that it doesn’t go in their face. Shoot at the moment of impact. There will be a few poor shots, bad expressions or dodgy throws, but this adds to the challenge. 03 Flick the hair Once the paint has been thrown, take a few more shots. Ask the model…

The sensor-cleaning function on Nikon D-SLRs is pretty effective, but there will be times when stubborn bits of dust aren’t shaken away. In these instances I’ll use a blower brush with the camera open on Bulb, and if that doesn’t work I have a Visible Dust Arctic Butterfly Kit with sensor swabs and cleaning liquid (see page 52 for a guide to doing this). Not all cleaning devices are so high-tech. I always carry a few washable micro fibre lens cloths, and a one-inch paint brush (with the handle sawn off) to get dust out of the nooks and crannies of my camera bodies and lenses.…

PROJECT INFO MISSION To capture the vibrant a tmosphere a t music festivals PHOTO GRAPHER Garry Jones AGE 22 LOCATION Coventry KIT Nikon D800, Nikon AF-S 24-70mm f/2.8G ED, Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.4G, Sigma 15mm f/2.8 EX DG Fisheye, Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8, three Metz 48 AF-1 flashguns, three Pocket Wizard Plus X wireless transmitters, Manfrot to tripod. WEB www.flickr.com/garryjonesphotography I first became interested in photography in my teens. As a skateboarder I was inspired by the images in skateboarding magazines, and marvelled at how photographers captured the dynamism of the sport. I studied photography at GCSE level, and decided I wanted to pursue my passion and turn it into a career. After leaving school I studied at Coventry City College, where I gained a National Diploma. The course gave me plenty of opportunities…

When getting all of the colours exactly right is the most important thing, such as if you’re photographing a painting or doing a commercial shoot where the product colours have to be spot-on, the way to go is to include a set of known colours in the shot – or rather, in one of the shots. The Gretag-Macbeth Color Checker is the obvious choice: you prop it up or have someone hold it up to the camera once you’ve got the lighting on the scene the way you’re going to shoot it. It then needs software for the next stage: Adobe, for example, has provided a program called DNG Profile Editor, for Windows and Mac, and it’s free and downloadable from www.adobe.com. Use the chart as follows – and remember,…

I am an enthusiastic amateur and would like to become more professional in my control of my camera and its output. I shoot with a Nikon D7000 and I like to photograph my friends and family, individually and in groups. I’m looking at a new lens that would be great in low light, but that could also be used in a variety of other lighting conditions. I’m considering the Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8 or similar, and I already own the Nikon SB-700. What’s your opinion of that lens, and do you have any other suggestions for lenses that would suit my photography? Karyn Davis, via email N-PHOTO CHOICE There are few better constant-aperture zoom lenses for Nikon D-SLRs than this. The Extra Low Dispersion glass reduces the potential for fringing, and…

WIN! A TWO-DAY LANDSCAPE PHOTO GRAPHY WO RKSHOP FOR TWO ON THE FABULOUS ISLE OF SKYE NIKON ESSENTIALS THE FIVE LENSES YOU CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT! We reveal the classic Nikon lenses that every pro has in their kit bag CORE SKILLS YOUR FIRST WEDDING Been asked to shoot a wedding? We tell you all you need to know FREE VIDEO DISC! Learn all this in the next set of Nikon Skills… ■ Master six classic portrait poses ■ Have fun playing with shadows ■ Get to grips with Wi-Fi and GPS ■ Cut up a portrait in Photoshop for a striking retro look ■ And much more! Plus all this… ■ Learn how to start selling shots on image libraries, fast! ■ Make the most of Live View with Michael…

Around the back The built-in electronic viewfinder is a worthy addition to the variangle screen, and the layout of buttons and dials is good. From the top There’s a wealth of shooting modes, including a userdefined mode and function button. As with the S9900, there’s a pop-up flash but no hotshoe. Build The extra bulk does at least make space for a deeply sculpted finger grip, as well as housing the 60x zoom lens. BRIDGE CAMERA Nikon Coolpix P610 £340, $497 www.nikon.com The P610 looks every inch a D-SLR, but has the built-in, non-interchangeable lens of a compact camera. Whether that’s the best or worst of both worlds is a matter of opinion. The chunky styling means there’s no real saving in size, and only a little weight reduction compared…

From the top There’s no mode dial on the camera, or even a command dial. The top panel features a shutter button, movie start/stop, GPS module and pop-up flash. Build It’s chunkier than the other 1 series outfits, mainly due to its bigger 11-27.5mm AW lens, which doesn’t retract when switched off, and lacks VR. Around the back It has a fixed LCD that lacks touchscreen capability, and the crowded control buttons can be fiddly if you’re wearing gloves. CSC Nikon 1 AW1 + 11-27.5mm £560, $747 www.nikon.com Take your camera to the seaside, or even down to the waterfront, and you risk it getting splashed. You don’t have to worry with the AW1, which is not only splash-proof but fully waterproof to a depth of 15 metres. And while…

COMPARISON TABLE It’s easy to forget that travel photography isn’t just about sunny beaches and rolling landscapes. For indoor shots of cathedrals, museums and the like, and for cityscapes after dark, you need a camera that gives good handheld results in low lighting conditions. Both of the D-SLRs on test give much better image quality than the 1 series and Coolpix cameras in these conditions, with greater retention of fine detail and less image noise. The D5500 edges ahead of the D3300 for clean looking images, the J4 and V3 perform rather less well but slightly better than the AW1, and the Coolpix compact cameras produce much noisier images, even at low ISOs. In well-lit scenes the D5500 wins out again, with unbeatable sharpness, excellent dynamic range, sumptuous colour rendition…

1 NIKON D4 (SUPERSEDED BY NIKON D4S, £4450, $5997) ■ What’s it for? Keeping up with active birds and mammals in virtually any lighting. Since the release of the D3, this series of cameras has allowed nature photographers to work in conditions we could only dream of back in the days of film. ■ Plus points Autofocus improved over the D3s. ■ Minus marks Each new model is closely followed by an ‘S’ version. I may wait for a D5s before upgrading! 2 NIKON AF -S 500MM F/4G ED VR (£5850, $8285) ■ What’s it for? My longest and most-used lens, not just for wildlife but for plants and the odd landscape. The neoprene cover is from Lens Coat (£70, $100), and provides camouflage and preserves resale value. ■ Plus…

01 Holy Sunset Isam Telhami, Israel “ Last November I visited Jerusalem, where some of my photos were on display at the Jerusalem Theatre. I asked another photographer to accompany me to the Old City to take photos of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The weather was poor that day, but there were some dramatic clouds, so we looked for a hill from where we could photograph the sunset behind the clouds. This spectacular cloud and light show began at sunset, and it felt like something described in the holy books, which is why I named the picture Holy Sunset. “ www.500px.com/Isamtelhami Nikon D5200, Nikon AF-S DX 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF VR, 1/200 sec, f/7.1, ISO100 02 Ceiling Power Hans van Vrouwerf, The Netherlands “ This is a forgotten church somewhere in Belgium,…

While you might think you have plenty of time to change the settings on your Nikon when shooting landscapes, it can still be a good habit to have it pre-set to help you concentrate on the really important things when you’re on location. THINGS YOU CAN PRE-SET The settings you use for shooting landscapes handheld are different to those that you would use when using a tripod. The main thing you need to consider is the shutter speed dropping too low, as this increases the risk of camera shake. That said, although the shutter speed is a concern, it’s still best to set your Nikon to aperture-priority mode, as the aim in most landscapes is to keep the whole scene sharp. If you’re shooting hand-held, you will need to set…

Even though you can’t predict the exact lighting conditions that you’ll be working in when you plan a shoot outdoors, having some basic settings pre-set on your Nikon will help with your outdoor portrait shots. THINGS YOU CAN PRE-SET For most outdoor portraits you’ll find that ISO200 will give you high-quality images, and still enable you to use a shutter speed fast enough to avoid blur from camera shake or subject movement. Just like when you’re taking window-lit portraits, you should set your Nikon to aperture-priority mode as this will give you complete control over the depth of field. Using a wide aperture such as f/2.8 will help to blur the background, while a narrower aperture such as f/8 will keep more of the scene sharp. For most portraits you…

Capturing the peak of the action when you’re shooting fast-moving subjects takes skill, timing and concentration, so you need to be sure that your settings are right before you start. THINGS YOU CAN PRE-SET When you’re freezing moving subjects you need to be in control of your Nikon’s shutter speed, so start by selecting shutter-priority mode. Then set a fast shutter speed such as 1/1000 sec, although you may need to alter this, depending on the speed of the subject. To enable you to use a fast shutter speed you’ll also need to set a high ISO in all but the brightest of lighting conditions. The precise setting will depend on the amount of light, but try ISO800 as a starting point. When you can’t predict where the subject will…

Over and under Over- or under-exposing your shot will evoke an entirely different mood, and is a useful trick if you can only shoot from one angle. Use manual mode or exposure compensation. Whichever of these approaches you take, enhance the effect by boosting contrast in Photoshop. Blur the subject To change the depth of field, simply change the aperture. Reduce depth of field by setting your widest aperture and shifting your focus to something closer to the camera. Focus on the foreground to isolate this area of your image, disregarding your initial subject. Go abstract If all this is too tame for you, delve further down the rabbit hole. It’s easy to turn a photo into an abstract piece of art. Try some motion blur to surprise viewers. An…

01 Surface details You can use a sheet of cloth or simply some paper as a backdrop. Lay this on the ground and shoot from above. This will flatten your images to help with the illusion. You can use flash to fill in the shadows, or household lamps paired with a tripod. 02 Chop your crop Pick a selection of fruit that is a variety of colours and easy to cut. Avoid anything that will lose its structure. Apples, melons and the like will work excellently, as they maintain their shapes and can be sculpted into almost anything with a bit of practice. 03 Fresh ideas Try out lots of different ideas; this is an experimental, creative technique so you never know what might work. Turn your shape inside out,…

TRAVEL SPECIAL THE MISSION To prep your camera for an all-day shoot, such as when you’re on holiday TIME NEEDED ■ Less than an hour SKILL LEVEL ■ Anyone can do it ■ Some tricky aspects ■ Advanced technique KIT NEEDED ■ Nikon D-SLR ■ Blower brush ■ Anti-static cloth ■ Cleaning swabs ■ Cleaning fluid NEXT ISSUE… Get to grips with Wi-Fi and GPS ■ If you’re planning a long trip abroad, chances are you’re looking to ensure your kit is completely dust-free and ready to go the minute you step off the plane. There are a few simple jobs to perform before you pack. The external areas of your camera are simple enough to manage, as they’re tough and you can be rougher and less careful with them…

01 When to shoot You need to plan ahead, as you need a full moon and a more or less clear sky. If you’re in the UK, you can find this information on the Met Office’s website (www.metoffice. gov.uk). Look up your location to find out what stage the moon is at and what time it will rise. 02 Where to shoot The moon will rise quickly, so you will need to be lower than your model. The Photographer’s Ephemeris (www.photoephemeris.com) will tell you what angle the moon will rise from at a set point of your choosing. Make sure you have a slope facing the moon so you can get down low. 03 On your marks, get sunset… The moon will begin to rise before the sky is dark.…

THE MISSION ■ Shoot a powder paint portrait TIME NEEDED ■ Two hours Skill Level ■ Anyone can do it ■ Some tricky aspects ■ Advanced technique KIT NEEDED ■ D-SLR ■ One or two Speed lights (or a portable lighting kit) ■ Dark backdrop ■ Remote flash trigger and receiver ■ Powder paints/flour ■ Dust sheets ■ Tarpaulin ■ Model ■ Clothes for the model ■ Shovel! NEXT ISSUE… Three is the magic number: create a story-telling triptych ■ Things were bound to get a little messy in this month’s Big Project. Throwing powder paint repeatedly over a person may result in vivid, dynamic portraits like this one, but it doesn’t half make a mess in the process! Your clothes, camera equipment, the floor and anything nearby is likely…

■ Spare lens and body caps – these are always getting lost ■ Spare UV filter – most of my lenses have a 77mm thread, so I pack a spare one of this size ■ 2 x 77mm B+W Kaesemaan polarisers – so I can switch lenses without having to swap filters too ■ Cleaning gear – see separate box out over the page ■ Cable release with manual locking ■ Wireless release with spare batteries (generic model from eBay) ■ Spare tripod quick-release plate – essential, as a tripod is useless without one ■ X-Rite Passport calibrator – used to create custom white balance profiles when colour is critical (see page 89). ■ Hot shoe spirit-level – helps level the camera for panoramas…

We reserve the right to edit any queries for clarity or brevity. You can also write to us at N-Photo Magazine, Quay House, The Ambury, Bath, UK, BA1 1UA ■ Keep your copies of N-Photo neat and tidy with our bespoke binder. Each stores a year’s worth of your favourite photo magazine – and costs from £9.99! Order yours today at… www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/n-photo-binder A NOSE FOR THE FACTS I read with interest your review of the Nikon D5500. In fact, I was so impressed I bought one! I would like to point out one thing regarding the touch screen. The reviewer correctly pointed out that it’s possible to alter settings via the touch screen while using the viewfinder. I think this is a really good feature. I set it to aperture-priority…

THE ONLY CAMERA MANUAL YOU’LL EVER NEED So what’s the fuss? While of course it’s good to know how different light sources cast a colour over a scene, and how to get that the way you want it, it is not usually in the end that important – if you shoot RAW files, it can all be tweaked or corrected later on, so it’s definitely not a cause for anguish as you shoot. For this reason, we will spend a little more time than usual here with the processing choices. That said, it’s important to know how white balance works, and you might as well get it right in-camera, as that will mean less time sat in front of a computer, which can only be a good thing. Plus, it…

If you shoot RAW rather than JPEG, setting the white balance from the camera’s menu is largely irrelevant. Like other settings it’s stored separately from the RAW data (see issue 40). It’s generally better to fine-tune white balance during RAW processing. You do have to choose some kind of white balance when you shoot, and I tend to use Auto White Balance as it’s a reasonable starting point. Others might prefer the Direct Sunlight setting, so that they can see at a glance, for example, how golden an afternoon image looks (see ‘Why colour temperature is of limited use’). In any case, the choice is yours. Once in Adobe Camera Raw (or equivalent software) you have the option of using the white balance pipette from the toolbar, or tweaking the…

01 Find a folder Capture NX-D will only filter and display the contents of one folder at a time. Simply click on the target folder to display its thumbnails in the main pane, and then add ratings and labels to them. 02 Sort your shots Before rating and labelling your images you can use the View>Sort Thumbnail menu to display a folder’s contents in various ways. Here we’ve chosen to view our shots in order of capture, with the newest images displayed at the top. However, if you prefer you can sort thumbnails according to metadata, such as camera model or aperture value. 03 Apply ratings To add a star rating to a selected thumbnail, open the Image menu and choose Image> Apply Ratings. By default all images have a…

SPECS DX FX/DX DX 48cm Min. focus 39cm No Internal focus No 67mm Filter size 72mm 7 Aperture blades 7 No Weather seals No 550g Weight 585g 78x99mm Size 79x101mm £599/$897 Price £399/$579 FEATURES Versatile range Like the Sigma, the Nikon is designed for DX-format SLRs, though it can be used on FX Nikons in DX crop mode. The focal length is equivalent to 27-450mm, covering everything from wide angle to long telephoto. Staying stable Both lenses have a maximum aperture of f/6.3 at the longest focal length, making their stabilisation even more useful. Sigma claims 3.5 stops of compensation for its OS; Nikon claims four stops for the VR system. HANDLING No creep The lens feels fairly solidly made. The broad zoom ring towards the front has good, if…

For 15 years Marsel van Oosten was a successful Amsterdam-based advertising art director. Then, in 2006, he decided to become a nature photographer. Like so many photographers before him, he dreamt of being published in National Geographic. The following year, he and his wife were travelling through Africa when they decided to visit Victoria Falls, one of Africa’s most popular natural landmarks. Marsel almost left his camera gear at the hotel, thinking he wouldn’t get an image any different to the hundreds taken by visitors every day. “However, one of the locals told us that an elephant bull had been spotted in the vicinity a day earlier,” he recalls, “so I decided to try my luck.” Elephants being creatures of habit, Marsel reckoned there was a chance of the bull…

THE CONTE NDERS 1 Nikon Coolpix S9900 £280, $347 2 Nikon Coolpix P610 £340, $497 3 Nikon Coolpix P7800 £350, $547 4 Nikon 1 J4 + 10-30mm PD-Zoom £315, $375 5 Nikon 1 AW1 + 11-27.5mm £560, $747 6 Nikon 1 V3 + 10-30mm PD-Zoom + EVF £800, $1200 7 Nikon D3300 + 18-55mm VR II £390, $500 8 Nikon D5500 + 18-55mm VR II £680, $900 All of us are tempted to pack whatever camera kit we can lay our hands on when going on holiday. The trouble is that you can easily find yourself exceeding the size or weight allowances for carry-on luggage at the airport, to say nothing of the pain of lugging around a heavy bag all holiday. You could simply take a single super zoom…

Build There’s plenty for enthusiast photographers to get to grips with, thanks to wideranging controls wrapped up in a reasonably small, sturdy package. Around the back As with the other Coolpix cameras, the vari-angle screen isn’t touch-sensitive. You have to press a button to switch between this and the electronic viewfinder. From the top The hotshoe is a welcome addition to the top panel layout, positioned to the left of the well-packed mode dial and dedicated exposure bias dial. COMPACT Nikon Coolpix P7800 £350, $547 www.nikon.com Slightly bigger than the S9900 but much smaller than the P610, we’d just about class the P7800 as a pocket-sized camera. It has a much shorter optical zoom range than the other two Coolpix models on test, with the 7.1x lens giving a more…

Around the back The tilting touchscreen sits between a left-hand bank of buttons and right-hand controls that include a customisable function button. From the top The fully-fledged shooting mode dial puts PASM within direct reach, unlike on both other 1-series cameras on test, and you get a hotshoe in addition to the pop-up flash. Build Handling is a definite improvement over the J4, with anti-slip textured surfaces and a sculpted finger grip. CSC Nikon 1 V3 + 10-30mm PD-Zoom + EVF £800, $1200 www.nikon.com The first V3 kits to hit the market came with a 10-30mm power zoom lens and plug-in viewfinder. The latter is a sensible inclusion, as it’s one of the standout benefits of the V3 over the J4. It’s a particularly good electronic viewfinder too, with a…

Your window onto the working life of a professional photographer ■ Back in March I visited the remote Indonesian island of Sumatra, in order to shadow a rescue team from the Orangutan Information Centre (OIC). I’ve been making self-funded trips to Sumatra since 2012, roughing it with the rescue teams in the jungle, then doing awareness-raising talks and exhibitions back in the UK. OIC has a network of people that help them, and I tag along, winning their trust and getting more and more access. Each year when I go back to Sumatra, I find more and more devastation. The place is dying as we speak, as the forests are being devastated for palm oil plantations. Caught up in the middle of all the destruction, corruption and conflict are four…

The settings you need to shoot sunrises and sunsets are similar to those for other landscapes, but as the light can change quickly, pre-setting the key controls will help you get the best results. THINGS YOU CAN PRE-SET It’s best to set your Nikon to manual mode to get the best results in the challenging lighting conditions of sunrise or sunset. You can also pre-set a small aperture, as this will give you a large depth of field – but not too small, or you run the risk of lens diffraction softening your shots. Around f/16 is a good starting point. One reason for shooting at sunset is to capture the warmer light, so even if you’re shooting in RAW, it’s best to set the white balance on your Nikon…

Adding some blur can help to give your action photographs a greater sense of movement, but as with any action photography, pre-setting your camera will make it easier for you to concentrate on capturing the peak of the action once on location. THINGS YOU CAN PRE-SET Controlling the shutter speed is the key to adding blur to your panning shots, so you should set your Nikon to shutter-priority mode. Because you will need to use a slow shutter speed, you will normally need to use a low ISO, too, so if you’re going to be shooting in daylight set the ISO of your Nikon to ISO100 or 200. You can also set your Nikon to manual focus, as it will give more consistent and predictable results than using autofocus for…

ANOTHER DIMENSION ■ Try to think outside the box. Walking around on the ground can be rather two-dimensional. Sadly, gravity will always limit our ambitions, but don’t let it restrict you too much; try to get high and low to find a different view and get more out of your shoot. QUICK TIP! To try this exercise, pick somewhere popular and over doe. Look at what others preceding you have done. It is, however, important to go somewhere where the techniques you want to try are possible -wading in to a major river, for example, would be quite tricky! 01 Bridge the gap Our first image is a ‘standard’ shot. As the bridge is very narrow in the frame, we’ve framed it between two trees. This adds some foreground, saving…

TEACH YOURSELF LIGHT ROOM Part 5 THE MISSION ■ To operate your camera from your computer, and to review images on screen in an instant TIME NEEDED ■ Half an hour SKILL LEVEL ■ Anyone can do it ■ Some tricky aspects ■ Advanced technique KIT NEEDED ■ Nikon D-SLR ■ USB cable ■ Computer ■ Lightroom 5 NEXT ISSUE… We start exploring Light room’s Library ■ If you do a lot of studio-based shooting then you may find it useful to connect your camera directly to your laptop or desktop computer via a USB cable. This will enable you to import each photo straight into Light room’s Catalog as you trigger the camera’s shutter. By tethering the camera to your computer and running Light room you can streamline the…

01 Body work Use an anti-static cloth and a blower brush to clean the outside of the camera. First use the blower brush all over the camera to remove any loose dust, paying attention to the inside of the grip and around the viewfinder. Follow up with an anti-static cloth on the same areas. 02 Gleaming glass Wipe the outside of each lens with an anti-static cloth, then use the blower brush on the front element and the rear element. If there’s still dust on either, wipe them with a lens tissue with a drop or two of lens fluid applied (make sure it’s photo lens cleaner, not glasses cleaner). 03 Spot the spots Over-cleaning can cause issues, so check that your sensor needs cleaning. Put a sheet of white…

THE MISSION ■ Add interest to a drab cityscape TIME NEEDED ■ 30 minutes SKILL LEVEL ■ Anyone can do it ■ Some tricky aspects ■ Advanced technique KIT NEEDED ■ D-SLR ■ Photoshop NEXT ISSUE… Cut up a portrait to create a radical look ■ An overcast sky over a vacant city can look rather dull, and makes for a boring, ordinary photograph. This can be amended with ease using a fast Photoshop technique. The idea is to take multiple images, changing the angle of view slightly for each one. You then bring them together in Photoshop. This method will produce an angular, very patterned image, with repeated straight lines, reminiscent of the early cubist style. Though the technique is different, the effect of the repeating lines is also…

01 Prepare for mess Gather as many dust sheets and tarps as you can and cover everything. We were shooting in an underground car park here, so we put dust sheets on the floor and rigged up a tarp to stop the paint drifting over towards parked cars. If you’re worried about your kit, cover that up too. 02 Go back to black Powder paints show up best against a very dark background. We used a roll of black paper, rigged up with two lighting stands and a boom. Prevent the lights from spilling onto the background to keep it as dark as possible. Alternatively, you could try shooting outside at night. 03 Bring a brolly You’ll need to light the scene with flash. Any type of flash will do;…

GOING EUROPEAN All of my electrical gear is fitted with two-pin plugs. They’re smaller, and more generic than three-pin UK plugs, and if all else fails you can usually plug things into the shaver socket in a hotel bathroom. Many devices come with two-pin plugs in addition to the UK plugs – even an Apple laptop charger can be used with one of these. EURO MULTI-SOCKET I picked up a couple of these when passing through Spain. They’re much smaller and lighter than the UK version, and can fit three cables! LIGHT SOCKET ADAPTORS I discovered these in an old-school electrical shop in Morocco. They enable me to recharge devices using a light bulb socket while still using the light bulb! I last used them in a tent in Northern…

Your photos, your stories, your letters GET £50 FOR EVERY PHOTO STORY WE PUBLISH! Come on in! There have been some big changes in N-Photo this month, but we’re still featuring your fantastic photo stories. This month two readers share their very different, but equally brilliant, passions – one for landscapes and the other for concerts. We’re also introducing a new section: the N-Photo Portfolio Review. If you’ve got a passion but your shots still aren’t coming out the way you want, write to us and we’ll help you get on track! INSIDE OVER TO YOU … 70 Photo Stories 74 Portfolio Review 78 Letters 81 Photographer of the Year WE WANT YOUR STORIES, PICTURES AND LETTERS! SEND THEM TO : N-Photo Magazine Future Publishing Ltd Quay House The Ambury…

PROFILE Jim Rippe is 55 years old and lives in Hammond, Indiana, in the USA. He’s only been taking photos for around two years, but has built up an impressive, varied portfolio of images. I enjoy the outdoors, and I always try to find something different to photograph, such as my macro shot of the fly. I took it within a couple of hours of having my close-up filters. My current kit consists of a Nikon D3200, Nikon AF-S DX 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G, Nikon AF-S DX 55-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G ED, Alta 233AO tripod, a wired remote shutter release, polarising filter, and a set of Hoya close-up filters. I recently bought a set of extension tubes, too. I have always admired moving-water photos and I decided to give it a try. I…

I enjoyed looking at the selection of Master Photographers’ Association annual award images (Light box, issue 42) and always appreciate the technical data being supplied. However, I am confused by the ‘settings’ for the great work featured from Margaret Soraya. The photos are stunning and won awards in the landscape and travel categories, yet are taken at very high shutter speeds, from 1/400 sec up to 1/8000 sec and high ISOs such as 160 and 3200. From a traditional landscape photography perspective, this is counterintuitive to me, as low ISOs seem to be the imperative, implying (often) longer exposure times. What trick have I missed? Jon Dudas, via email Thanks for your letter, Jon. We thought it’d be best to speak to the photographer herself, so here’s what she responded…

Indoors and after sunset, you’re much more likely to be dealing with lighting from different sources, each with a different colour cast. This is so-called mixed lighting, and as camera sensors get better, with increased sensitivity that allows us to shoot in lower and lower light, this becomes more and more common in photography. So, what to do about a scene with more than one colour cast? You can simply go with the flow and accept them (see ‘Or just enjoy the effect’), or you can adjust the balance for the dominant light source, and then set to work on the remaining cast. One way to do this is with local adjustment tools in the RAW processing software, such as the brush, radial filter or grad filter, simply adjusting the…

RRP when released: £136 ($120) Used price: £70-£110 ($80-$100) In 2002, back when film and digital occupied equal shelf space at your local camera shop, Nikon released the 50mm f/1.8D lens. It satisfied the traditionalist, who saw a 50mm lens as a ‘kit’ lens, and the newcomer after a bit of variety in their optical options. It helped that the lens would work on all but the lower-end D-SLRs (which lacked focus motors), meaning a film user could make the jump to digital and still use the lens. With a focal length that’s perfect for portraiture, close-ups and street photography, the 50mm f/1.8D is versatile in spite of the absence of zoom, and the f/1.8 aperture means low light isn’t an issue. Having such a wide aperture at your fingertips…

From the major expense of a new camera or lens, to the cost of all of the smaller accessories and even time that you need to spend shooting, there’s no getting away from the fact that photography can be an expensive hobby. But the rewards should outweigh the costs. For many this is simply the enjoyment and pride in producing good images, but there are also many ways that you can get some financial reward from your photography, which is where this new series comes in. Over the coming months we’ll show you how you can make some cash from your Nikon, from how to get a little cash in your spare time to going the whole hog and giving up the day job to make your living from photography.…

HOW TO GET STARTED Many photographic magazines have a readers’ pictures, gallery or showcase section, which is a great place to start. These won’t offer the highest rewards, but they can be a stepping stone to getting your images published elsewhere in the magazine, or even in other publications. If you have some great seasonal images of your local area you could also try submitting a small selection of images to a local interest magazine or publication, rather than starting out with a large national or international organisation. If your photos are up to scratch, getting your foot in the door of any publication is pretty simple, as they will all be on the lookout for new and striking images. For your initial submission try sending a small selection (up…

The first thing Kevin Cummins mentions on his website biography is being born within ‘crying distance’ of Maine Road, the former home of Manchester City Football Club. Although best known for his seminal images of Punk, New Wave and Britpop bands, it’s Kevin’s devotion to Man City that rises above the crash and noise of the stage when he recalls his musical legacy… So, which interest came first: music, photography or Manchester City? They’re all interlinked in a way. My mum was very keen on listening to music and my grandmother (my mother’s mother) was a nightclub singer. My mum used to play me West End musical albums, so I was brought up on Carousel and West Side Story. My dad and my mum’s father were keen amateur photographers –…

From the top It’s not an ‘enthusiast’-level camera by any means, but easily accessible PASM modes are a bonus. Up top are also a command dial, zoom lever and pop-up flash. Build The slimline build incorporates a slightly sculpted finger grip that aids stability for long telephoto shots, and the VR (Vibration Reduction) system works well. Around the back The fully pivoting ‘vari-angle’ screen is useful, but we found it easy to press the Wi-Fi button accidentally while shooting. COMPACT Nikon Coolpix S9900 £280, $347 www.nikon.com The most ‘pocketable’ of all the cameras on test, the S9900 is a newcomer to Nikon’s ‘Style’ range of Coolpix compacts and measures just 40mm in depth. It improves on last year’s model, the P9700, by adding a variangle screen and Near Field Communication…

From the top The simplified shooting mode dial consigns PASM settings to its ‘Creative’ position. There’s no accessory shoe for an optional viewfinder or flashgun. Build The smooth texture of the camera body looks good, but can make it feel a bit slippery in the hand. Around the back As with the top of the camera, the rear design is very simple. Most adjustments are menu based, but the touchscreen speeds navigation. CSC Nikon 1 J4 + 10-30mm PD-Zoom £315, $375 www.nikon.com Narrower, shorter and only a little deeper than the Coolpix P7800, this is the smallest and most lightweight Nikon 1 camera outfit in the group. With the 10-30mm VR kit lens it measures just 100mm by 60mm by 57mm and weighs a mere 317g, so it’s also lighter…

From the top The shooting mode dial gives direct access to scene modes, and serves up an interactive Guide mode for beginners. Around the back Simple but effective, the layout features Nikon’s usual bank of left-hand control buttons. The LCD lacks touchscreen or variangle capability, though. Build Not overly bulky, the lightweight build nevertheless feels reassuringly solid and sturdy, and the retracting kit lens makes for easier stowage. D-SLR Nikon D3300 + 18-55mm VR II £390, $500 www.nikon.com Often touted as a ‘beginner’s camera’ with its interactive Guide shooting mode, the D3300 nevertheless packs plenty of advanced features into its diminutive shell. At least, it’s pretty small for a full-blown D-SLR, especially when fitted with its retracting 18-55mm VR II kit lens. Highlights include the same 24.2-megapixel image sensor and…